The Memphis game aside, for whatever the reasons, Thad Matta's never chosen to make Greg Oden a huge part of the Ohio State offense. Their MVP this year, and I say this with a great deal of respect to Greg Oden, is Mike Conley. The same is sort of true of Hibbert, as Jeff Green usually handles the offensive load, but the difference is, where Ohio State doesn't often make it a point to keep feeding Oden the ball, Georgetown will take advantage of a Hibbert mismatch. For an example, see the Big East championship game where Hibbert emasculated Aaron Gray in front of 19,000 New Yorkers. Gray is still searching for remnants of his testicles.Comparing offensive skills, it's almost all Hibbert. Again, Oden showed more against Memphis than he had all year, and he does have this blazingly quick spin move that I'm not sure that more than a handful of NBA guys could stop right now. But for all-around scoring, the edge is Hibbert's. In fact, it's not even so much an edge as it is the whole damn cliff.
Hibbert's low post game is way more polished. His footwork is spectacular, as good as you'll see on the college level. He's got a variety of moves with his back to the basket, a sweeping hook shot, the spin, drop steps, and he can turn and shoot from almost anywhere. He's got touch for days, and is a pretty good passer, too. Georgetown likes to get him moving towards the basket on some backdoor cuts, too. Again, I could see Oden struggling with this and picking up fouls.
It's not that Oden can't do those things; he's capable of it. Either he just hasn't learned the whole back of tricks yet, or Thad Matta doesn't want to run the offense through him, or some combination of both. Whatever the reasons, we haven't seen it.
So if Hibbert has all these advantages, why is Oden regarded as the better NBA prospect? Because physically, he's superior to Hibbert. He's quicker, stronger, and in better shape. I don't disagree that he's a superior NBA prospect. But as far as the matchup in this game, and the usage by their respective teams, I see Hibbert having an advantage.
Hibbert vs. Oden: The Hype
Hibbert vs. Oden: The Breakdown, Part I
Hibbert vs. Oden: The Breakdown, Part II
